


The Vigilante Chronicles

by sentimental_boy



Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: F/M, Slow Build, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-17
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-05-02 02:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5230202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sentimental_boy/pseuds/sentimental_boy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You're a mutant with giant raven wings that Fisk found, tortured, and threatened until you agreed to work for him. You've just been freed from Fisk's grasp thanks to the law offices of Nelson and Murdock. Now you're back to doing what you've always felt the need to do- protecting your city. This time form another mob. Diving back in doesn't go as well as you remembered, and you find yourself waking up in Daredevil's apartment. You bring the case to the newly formed defenders, but once again, things don't go as planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

You're finally doing well now that that law firm and the super hero known as Daredevil put Fisk and his men away. Super hero is a controversial term right now, but this guy is definitely a hero in your book. You're lucky no one's found out about you yet. You’ve been living in fear that you weren’t doing enough for Fisk, and he'd come after you loved ones. Now, thanks to Daredevil, the vigilante himself is the only thing you have to worry about. You hope the masked vigilante will give you a chance to explain your situation, and have pity should he find you. 

You've worked your way up at the fashion company as a front for being an errand girl for Fisk. Now you can enjoy your job, unfettered, as a lingerie designer and start a new life. So here you sit, looking for nicer apartments. You finally find a nice corner apartment, but when you go to check it out there's one major issue. The building across from it put up a giant backlit billboard. You’re no activist, not for trivial things such as billboards. The problem is that it would shine right into your sitting room and you prefer natural light.

Soon enough the apartment across from it opens up and it’s even better than the first. Nice apartment, no billboard, decent price, perfect. It’s not like you’re hurting for money, but how do rich people stay rich?

Anyway, you can use the extra money on gear and weapons. Justice has always been an interest and martial arts has always been a hobby. It comes as no surprise (to the one person who knows) that you’re returning to your calling; being a vigilante. Not to mention your mutation in the form of giant raven wings; those definitely are a plus. Well, they’re a plus while you’re fighting crime. Not while you’re trying to be an upstanding citizen. It helps that your job is to restrain appendages. Being a lingerie designer, you have the skills and means to design a contraption to hold your wings down under your clothes. Now that Fisk isn’t a problem you can go back to helping people in the only way you’ve ever known how. So what if you feel it helps atone for the wrongs you’ve committed?

Today is your first day in your new apartment, but you don't let it stop you from starting your old routine. The first thing you do is take off the harness that holds your wings down. And some people think bras are uncomfortable. You lean back on the sofa and watch the news while you wait for nightfall to come. Tabloids have been going crazy between you, ‘the winged vigilante’, and ‘Daredevil’. If you're honest, you’re a little offended that you don’t have a tabloid nickname yet.

"The winged vigilante." You test out how it sounds. Yeah, real original guys. You shake it off and have a quick dinner before you change into your crime fighting uniform. This Daredevil guy is ahead of you on the outfit, you’ll give him that. As ridiculous as the horns are, the rest of it looks practical and padded. As for you, your outfit looks more like his black outfit he had before. Switch out the long sleeves for a racerback tank, and flip the mask, and you're good.

You grab your spear and stun gun, perching yourself on the edge of the sofa, listening to your police scanner. Reports of the 'masked vigilante known as Daredevil' come in and you decide to steer clear of the area. From what you can tell, he has things under control. After listening to the scanner for a while you decide that there's nothing for you. You start some research on a local crime circle, keeping the scanner on in the background in case something interesting comes up. That's when your friend and confidant calls.

"Nick." You let out a sigh of relief.

“Hey, I know you haven’t been going out and fighting crime for a while now, but I keep getting more information on this mob. It would be the perfect time for you to jump back in. If you wanted.”

You’ve been dodging Nick’s questions and offers since you started working for Fisk. You never told him because he was one of the first people Fisk threatened in order to get you to comply. You couldn’t let him bear that weight. It’s such a relief to finally be a team again. "What do you have for me?"

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah. I’m ready to do this again.”

“That’s great! I knew you would cave if I annoyed you long enough.”

“Like your mom did to you with nursing school?”

“Exactly like that. Look at me now, I’m still working with tech like I want and I can patch you up.”

“She’d be so proud of her vigilante son.” You say sarcastically.

“You’re the vigilante. I’m just the accessory.”

“Yeah whatever."

"Not whatever. If you get sentenced to 7o years in prison, I can only get 35 years."

"You roll your eyes. Well you better keep visiting me then."

"Are you kidding? I'd never go back there."

"You're funny Nick." You pause. "But really. This is what I need to be doing; thank you for being so persistent.”

“No problem. So I have a location on some of the guys. They’ve been trying to get into human trafficking as a ‘side business’ and they’re going to scope out victims tonight."

"Oh thank God. You're the best Nick."

"Sometimes I wonder if there’s something wrong with you.”

“The answer to that is yes. And I meant thank God you have a location so I can go prevent it. Jesus, you have a low opinion of me. Don’t you?”

“Not as low as you think. It’s just fun to listen to you get all defensive.”

“Thanks.” You roll your eyes.

“Yeah. Now go save the world. Or lower Manhattan. Whatever.”

-0-

The tip Nick gave you pays off, as always. You see mob members lurking, scoping out victims for their 'side business.' Right now you're trying to keep people safe while you get more intel on them. You're not so naive to think that you can take them out alone, you just need to figure out who to turn the information in to. You know better that the police are dirty, even still. If you give them the intel, they'll just go in for a payoff. S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers seem to be falling apart so you don’t trust them with it. Besides, assuming that you could get ahold of them, the local mob isn’t exactly their forte.

Until you figure out who can help you with this, you’re going to do what you can. There's only a few guys out tonight so you decide to take them on.

You hide and tap on the car until the guy on the passenger side gets out to investigate. You take him out and the other guy comes around to see what's going on, mumbling about what an idiot the other is. You knock him out too before you head to the roof to take out the guy they have keeping watch up there. Like the apostles of old, he fell asleep on the watch. You fly up to the roof ready to fight, or make sure the sleeping guy stays that way, but you don't see anyone. You look around and listen for any movement aside from the bustle of the city. Before you can see or hear anything there's a cloth pressed to your mouth and nose. You have to fight past your natural instinct to panic so you can hold your breath. Right when he thinks you're going limp, you flip him over your shoulder. Once he's on the ground you hold your foot on his throat, trying to catch your breath. Before you can, someone else comes up behind you. You're yanked off the man you have pinned. He coughs and sputters for a minute as you fight the guy who just grabbed you. You're tiring out and you know you're going to be in a bad spot once the other man joins in. He finally does and the second guy holds you while the first one beats you.

-0-

Matt groans as he wakes up. He feels various objects poking him in the back or squelching beneath him. Then the smell hits him. He's in a dumpster. Again. He goes to sit up, but the exertion almost makes him pass out. He thinks back to the last guy he was fighting and the swift knockout punch. He can only hope that the man who dumped him here doesn't care about the world knowing who Daredevil is. He just wants to get home and shower before he falls into his silk sheets, but he's too lightheaded to move. Forget about getting to his apartment.

As he's laying there he hears the unmistakable sounds of a fight on the roof above him. A moment later someone comes crashing down, knocking the wind out of him. He gasps for air as the person continues to crush him. Once he catches his breath he pushes the body off of him and tries to sit up. He keeps batting away something heavy and… feathery? He takes his gloves off to run his hands over it and it feels like a giant wing. This is the worst he's felt since he’s gotten his new suit and he does not have the energy for whatever this is. He racks his brain as he shifts beneath… it, and remembers the winged vigilante from the media. He wants to leave her there to take care of herself, but with no guarantee that she’s okay, he can't do that. He hears a faint heartbeat and contemplates the best way to get her and him out of this dumpster. At this point he's running on pure adrenaline so he just picks her up and throws her over the side before clambering out of the dumpster himself.


	2. Chapter Two

You wake up and immediately freeze. This is not your apartment. The layout is a hell of a lot like your apartment, but it’s furnished differently. You look over and there's a man passed out next to you. You panic, remembering the men beating you and pushing you off a roof last night, then nothing. A closer look tells you that this man is Daredevil, if the mask he's griping in his sleep is anything to go off of. You feel more at ease once you realize this. You may have been unsure about him before, but he did save your ass. Your vision goes blurry and a feeling of lightheadedness overwhelms you as you try to get up.

"I'd take it easy if I were you. Actually both of us should, I think we both have a concussion." He says as he lays unmoving on the bed.

"Jesus, I thought you were asleep.”

He chuckles.

“Aren't you supposed to stay awake after a concussion?" You ask.

"You were already out and there was no way I could've stayed awake. We're both up now though, so I guess we're okay."

"Did you carry me here?"

"Yeah, I figured you wouldn't want to go to a hospital and expose your identity."

“Oh. Um, thanks.”

He just hums an affirmation and moves on. "So, how does someone with wings fall into a dumpster?"

"I wasn't conscious."

"Oh.” He pauses. “I think you broke one of your wings.”

You look at him. “Yeah, it feels that way. So what are you, a super doctor?”

He laughs. “No, I have heightened senses and I’ve had my fair share of injuries. I know what a broken bone sounds like. There’s a nurse that helps me out when I get bad injuries, I could call her."

You shake your head. "It's okay, I can handle it, I think it just needs to be reset before it can heal. I guess you won't be hearing from me for a while."

"You'll get past it."

"I'm sure I will." You take a deep breath and let it out. "God, we smell like shit."

"Well we did pass out in a dumpster last night." He chuckles.

"I guess we did." You can't stop his smile from spreading across your face despite everything. "I'm going to go home."

"I don't think that's a good idea, at least wait until night with your wings and everything. Especially if one's broken. You won't be able to make a quick getaway when someone recognizes you."

"Thanks, but my legs work just fine." You stand and wince as the pain comes back to your head.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" He asks, concerned.

"No."

"Stay here. I'll get you some pain meds and you can shower and hang out here." When you don't answer right away he goes on. "I brought you here instead of taking you to the hospital so you could keep your anonymity. I'd hate for that to be in vain."

"You sure do know how to convince a girl." You sit on the bed. "Thank you."

"Yeah, you seem like you're doing a lot of good out there."

"Yeah, you too."

-0-

He let you shower first, so after he gets out he joins you on the sofa.

"So how are you doing?" You ask.

"Better than earlier but still not great. You?"

"I'm right there with you."

There's a moment of awkward silence. "So would it be completely stupid to ask a masked vigilante for his name?"

He chuckles. "You can call me Mike."

"But that's not your name."

"No. Is there something I can call you?"

"Uh, Robin I guess."

"Well it's nice to meet you Robin."

"And you, Mike."

“I’ve never heard of an enhanced person having wings or even the rumors of inhumans. Does that make you a mutant?"

"Yeah. When I was a kid people with powers, enhanced or otherwise, weren’t out in the open so it was difficult. Trying to hide my wings through school was ridiculous. I looked so frumpy because I had to wear baggy clothes so they didn't show. I've designed a harness for them so I don't have that problem now."

"So it’s not mutant and proud for you?”

You shrug. “I’ve lived so long hiding them, I almost don’t even notice. Anyway, if I just let them free one day there would be a lot of speculation that I wouldn't be able to deny. I think it’s great what others are doing though, be it mutants or enhanced humans being in the public eye. It means that the next generation won’t have the same issues. Hopefully.”

“Well you’re in the public eye too. They might not know your identity, but people still see you. I overheard a little girl talking to her mom about you the other day.”

“Oh yeah?” You can’t stop the curiosity in your voice or the smirk that spreads across your face.

“Yeah. My friend and I were at a cafe and this little girl was so fascinated that someone ‘just like her’ is out there saving people. Her mother shushed her because it’s a hot issue right now, but the excitement in her little voice...” he smiles and shakes his head.

“I don’t understand why it was such a big deal to her, there’s plenty of people doing this. I mean, look at the X Men or the avengers.”

“She was young. You could’ve been the first mutant she’s seen fighting crime. Definitely the first from Hell’s Kitchen. Anyway, teams like the X Men, the Avengers, and S.H.I.E.L.D. are all on such a huge scale. If you ask me, more of us need to focus on preventing crimes in our own neighborhoods.”

“Yeah, absolutely. I suppose that’s what the police are for, but they’re half the problem now.” You agree.

“Yeah. I think a lot of organizations view crimes we’re dealing with as trivial but they’re affecting real lives.”

“I know. It’s so hard to see.”

He nods. “So, on a lighter note, do you have special shirts for crime fighting? How does that work with your wings?"

"Some of us have sidekicks, I have racerback tank tops."

"That doesn't sound like it gives you much protection."

"Yeah, as ridiculous as it looks, you're ahead of me on the suit."

He laughs. "Maybe it's a bit theatrical, but it's a statement."

"And what is that statement? It seems a little ironic to me."

"My priest told me something that stuck with me when we were talking about the devil. He told me that maybe the God created the devil and allowed him to fall from grace as a warning to tread in the path of the righteous."

"So that's your thing. 'Tread in the path of the righteous or you'll find them.' That's way more interesting than what I was thinking."

"What were you thinking?"

"That you took the nickname 'the devil of Hell’s Kitchen' and ran with it."

He chuckles. "Well that may have contributed to it."

You laugh. "Well that's what I would've done. To be honest, I'm a little offended I don't have a tabloid nickname."

He laughs. "I'm sure you'll get one soon enough. What would you rather they call you?"

"I don't know. Something other than 'the winged vigilante.'"

He nods. "Understandable. I’d hate to be called the blind vigilante."

“I was wondering why you wouldn’t look me in the eye. That makes more sense.” You think about it. “Kind of. How do you do this if you're blind?"

"Remember when I told you that I have heightened senses?"

“Yeah.”

He shrugs. “That’s how. I can deduce my surroundings and sometimes even notice more than a seeing person would.”

"They must be sharp as a two edged sword for you to be able to be flipping around beating on bad guys."

"Yeah, and I had good training."

"I bet, Do you have any tips for me?" You joke.

"From what I hear you're doing pretty well."

"Thanks." An awkward silence falls. “So what prompted you to start doing this?”

"My dad was a boxer but he never wanted me to fight. After he died and I was blinded, an old blind guy found me and taught me martial arts."

"Wow, sounds like the plot to-"

"Kung fu. I know." A minute passes before he speaks up again. "So you know my story now. What made you get into crime fighting?"

You notice how funny this whole situation is; two vigilantes sharing tips and origins stories. "Um, When I was younger I took a couple self defense classes then that turned into martial arts. Justice has always been an interest of mine, I actually went to school to be a lawyer."

"Really?" He raises his eyebrows.

"Yes. Is that so surprising?" You cross your arms.

"It's just funny because that's what I do."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, defense attorney. What about you?"

"Lingerie designer.

He grins like an idiot and raises his eyebrows again. "Why the career switch?"

"It was something I did on the side just for fun or to destress. One day I was doodling in a cafe and the head of a big fashion company came up and expressed interest. The firm I was working at was a big company taking advantage of average citizens and that's not why I became a lawyer."

"You didn't happen to work at Landman and Zach did you?"

"No, why?"

"It just sounds a lot like my friend and I. We started at a similar place then decided to start our own firm. That way we could choose our clients and actually help people."

"So if I were in need of some legal help in the future, would your firm be willing to defend me?"

"It would be your right. Foggy's a little more skeptical of us vigilante types, but I could talk him around."

"Foggy? What's that short for?"

"Did I say Foggy? I don't think I did."

You roll your eyes. "Oh my God." You let your head fall back. "You let me in your house, but I can’t know your best friend’s name? I'm not going to turn you in even if I did find out who you are."

"You'll forgive me for trying to maintain some anonymity."

"I suppose." Your wings flutter subconsciously as you move to sit on your legs and you wince.

"Are you sure your wing can wait? It doesn’t sound good."

"Yeah, I know a guy who can help me reset it. Won't be the first time."

"Alright. Just wanted to make sure."

-0-

Before you know it, it’s nightfall and you can safely leave, but you're finding that you don't want to.

"I guess I should leave now, get Nick to reset my bone." You stand.

"Oh, um alright."

You think you hear disappointment in his voice but you figure it's wishful thinking so you ignore it. "Thank you for helping me."

"Yeah, of course. Um, do you want me to walk you home?"

"I think I can take care of myself Mike."

"I know that. I just- I just wanted to offer."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome.” He follows you to the door, growing concerned when you freeze in the doorway. “Are you alright?”

“Oh my God, I’m an idiot.”

“What?”

“I came to look at this place when I was looking for apartments. The billboard should’ve given it away.”

“Is that why you didn’t take it?”

“Yeah.”

“Well thank you for helping me get a deal then.”

You laugh. “No problem. Anyway, I recently moved since the place across from here opened up.”

“Wait, you live next door?”

“Yeah.”

“That's great!" He smiles and tries to contain his excitement. "Honestly, I was a little disappointed to see you go, if you’ll pardon the expression.”

“I thought you sounded a bit forlorn.” You tease.

“Maybe we’ll run into each other again.” He smiles.

“Yeah, maybe. Thanks again.”

“My pleasure.”


	3. Chapter Three

You step into your apartment and go to call Nick. When you find your phone you see that there's 22 missed calls from him. Shit. He must be worried sick.You call him and he picks up on the first ring.

"Jesus Christ, thank God you're okay. I thought I just convinced you to go out again and you died."

"Nick, you're so dramatic."

"Hey, that is a very real possibility. You're okay right?"

"Yeah. Mostly. I broke one of my wings, the bone needs to be reset."

"Alright. I'll be right over. We can talk then."

-0-

Nick knocks on the door so you go open it.

"Hey, thanks for coming."

He shrugs. "It's what you pay me for."

"Uh, I don't pay you at all."

"I know, but it made me sound like the apathetic butler."

You roll your eyes as you walk over to the sofa. "You know, when your life is as exciting as a movie you don't have to script it."

"Duly noted. That's why you're the cool one."

"I guess it is."

He walks over and feels your wing. "God, what happened this time? And why didn't you answer any of my calls? I could've reset it last night or this morning."

"I know. I fell into a dumpster last night and it happened to be the same dumpster that Daredevil had fallen into earlier. I passed out right before I fell and I guess I fell on top of him. He took me back to his apartment and helped me as much as he could; we hung out at his place until nightfall. He didn't want me to have to go home in broad daylight with my wings out on display."

"Awww how sweet. You're meant for eachother."

"Oh stop it."

"Never." He snaps your bone back into place.

"FUCK!" You yell.

-0-

Matt hears you yell, so he stops what he's doing and listens close. He hears a man apologize, but nothing from you. After a minute he hears you let out a relieved breath.

"It's fine. Thank you."

"Yeah. So who is he? Really."

"I don't know."

He gives you an exasperated look. "Are you trying to tell me that after spending all day with this guy, that never came up?"

"It came up, but we agreed not to tell each other our names. Anyway, if he had told me his name we probably would have sworn not to tell anyone else."

"Not even me? This is it. You're going to meet other crime fighters and you're going to form your little group of cool friends then forget about me."

Matt chuckles when he hears that, knowing Foggy would say something similar. Now that he knows you're okay, he has the courtesy to stop listening.

-0-

"Nick. I could never forget about my consulting nerd."

He frowns and looks you in the eye. "Thanks."

"Really Nick, I joke about it because it's such a ridiculous notion. We've known each other since sixth grade; there's no way I could replace you."

"Good. That makes me feel better." He pauses. "But you and Daredevil have seen each other's faces."

"Well I've seen his face."

"What; were you wearing your mask all day?"

"No. He's blind."

"What? Are you sure?"

"Pretty damn."

"But how does he-"

"I don't know. All he said is that he has heightened senses."

"That's vague."

"Well I wasn't going to demand his life story. He was kind enough to let me stay at his house and entertain me until it was dark."

"Entertain you?" He wiggles his eyebrows.

"Oh stop. I'd like to have an adult conversation with you every once in awhile."

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. But what did he look like?"

"He had chestnut brown hair and dark brown eyes. His facial features were soft, and he had close cut scruff. His lips were dreamy. I don't know. I'm bad at describing people."

"Well you did a pretty good job. I might want to date him now."

"Oh come on."

He laughs at you. "So are you going to see him again?"

You shrug. You don't want to tell him that Daredevil lives across the hall because you're 90% sure Nick would go bang his door down. "Maybe in passing."

"In passing?"

"Yeah. We're two crime fighters in Hell's Kitchen, I'm bound to run into him again."

"Oh." Nick looks you over. "What are you wearing by the way?"

You look down. "Oh, I showered at his place and he gave me some clothes to wear."

Nick raises his eyebrows and you slap his arm. "Oh My God! I thought we were past this."

"Owww." He rubs his arm. "Why don't you go back to give his clothes back?"

"Well I was planning on dropping them off, I just thought it would be awkward. You know; 'well here's your clothes, I guess I'll go now.'"

"That's not how it's going to happen. You're going to knock and tell him that you're returning his clothes. Maybe it's a little weird, but it's not a normal situation either. He's going to thank you and invite you in, and you're going to have another long conversation, then he's going to ask you out."

"I like how you're the one giving me dating advice now."

"I will have you know that nerds are very hot right now."

You laugh. "Yeah I know. I'll try your advice, but you owe me the dinner that he's not going to take me to."

"Deal."

-0-

You're looking over the menu to find the most expensive thing that Burger King sells. Nick agreed to take you to dinner, but he was all too quick to point out that you never specified where he had to take you. You settle for a meal, and five hershey pies. Nick rolls his eyes but pays up.

"Was it really that embarrassing?"

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"Well, nothing. It was just super awkward, just like I anticipated."

"Maybe it was just awkward for you, you know?"

"Oh yeah, that makes it so much better."

"It does! You Felt awkward, but if he didn't, he might've just been nervous and didn't know what to say."

"Okay, I believe a conversation like this is what lead to the super awkward meeting between Daredevil and me earlier."

"Alright, alright. I'll leave you alone."

"I appreciate it. Why are you so obsessed with this idea anyway?"

"Are you kidding? Daredevil and the Winged Vigilante? You'd be such an adorable couple."

"First of all, you know I hate that nickname, if you'd even call it that. And second of all, why don't you just go scream it from a rooftop?" You look around hoping that no one's listening.

"Oh come on. No one's listening."

You narrow your eyes.

"Right, sorry."

"It's fine, just be careful. A secret identity just isn't the same without the secret part."

"Yeah, I understand."


	4. Chapter Four

It had been another long night, trying to keep the mob from making progress. You decided to go to bed early for once and now you're waking to someone banging on your door. "Nick? What the hell?" You say as you open the door.

"That's a good question." He shoves past you and starts setting up his laptop.

"What's this about?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that you're over there talking about how you have to protect this city when you worked for that dickhead Fisk."

You don't know how he found out, but you won't try to deny it. "Nick please let me explain."

"Alright, explain this." He turns his laptop toward you showing you footage of you by Fisk's side shooting someone.

You have to hold back tears seeing it. "Yeah. You're right Nick, I owe you some answers. Just please listen."

He sits back, crossing his arms. He's only seen you cry a handful of times, so when tears start to fall he softens. He should've known better than to think you'd be willing to work for Fisk, but he won't apologize until he hears you explanation.

You sit across from him, trying to think of where to start. "Okay, so yes, that footage is me. Yes, I worked for Fisk, but I didn't want to. I hated myself- still do- knowing what I was doing. Thank God I only dealt with other criminals he had issue with, so that gives me some solace.

"So why'd you do it? Did they have something on you that I don't know about?" Nick asks.

"No. I wouldn't have done it because of blackmail. I'm ashamed that he got me to help him the way they did."

"And how was that?"

"They took me one day, there were at least five guys plus Fisk. They tortured me for weeks. Remember when I texted you telling you I was going on vacation for a while?"

"Yeah. Was that what happened?"

You nodded, not trusting your voice.

"Oh, y/n. I'm sorry. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah." Your voice is so weak and high pitched, you'd be embarrassed if you didn't have bigger things to worry about.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? If I would've known I-"

"What? What could you have done Nick? Fisk had such a huge organization, complete control. I couldn't put you at risk like that. That's besides what he would've done to me if I talked about him. I know I shouldn't have caved, it was so weak."

Nick comes over and kneels in front of you. "I had no idea, I never would've been so accusatory. You're the strongest person I've ever met, you have no idea how much respect I have for you."

"Still?" You sniff.

"Still." He nods as he looks into your eyes.

You slide onto the floor and hug him, sobbing into his chest.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. Especially since you know what happened and still accept me. I have a hard time with it myself."

"Yeah, of course. I'm sorry about how I brought it up."

"No, I didn't tell you about it. How were you supposed to take it?"

He shrugs. "I still feel bad. It couldn't have brought back good memories."

"Alright, let's not go in circles. Do you want a drink or something?" You stand and he follows suit.

"No, I don't think that's a good Idea. I'm going to head home if you're okay."

You nod and wrap your arms around yourself. "I'm fine."

He gives you a solid hug before he grabs his stuff and leaves.

-0-

You lay in bed, staring at the way the moonlight shines through the curtains where they didn't get closed all the way. You hate it when that happens; it makes you feel like someone's watching you. It probably doesn't help that you've been having an old horror movie marathon, cheesy as they may be. Since you were a teenager they helped you detach yourself from whatever situation you were in, and that's what they're doing now. Distracting you from the time you spent as one of Fisk's errand people. That clip Nick showed you brought back some real horrors that you've been having a hard time forgetting. It's sitting there, staring at that stripe of white light cutting across the darkness, when you hear a rapping at your door. You jump, not expecting anyone at this hour, but get up to see who it is all the same.

"Mike? It's 3 in the morning. What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't sleep."

"It's fine I guess. I couldn't either." You watch him through dry eyes. He looks exhausted, something you can sympathize with. "Do you want to come in? I could use the company."

"Thanks."

"So what has you up this late?"

He shrugs as he takes a seat on the sofa. "I don't know. Sometimes things just get too loud and chaotic. You?"

"Same, but mine is just in my head. Do you have anything you use to distract yourself?"

"I meditate. Sometimes I can't quiet things enough to do that though. When that happens I try to focus on one sound in particular."

"What was it tonight?"

He goes red in the cheeks. "That's why I came over, I couldn't focus on anything. I needed to talk to someone and I figured we might have similar schedules due to our shared second job."

"I don't believe you. Nobody turns that shade of magenta for no reason."

He lets out a nervous chuckle. "Alright fine, but you're going to think I'm a stalker."

"It was me?"

He nods. "Your giggle in particular."

"I don't giggle." You feel the need to defend your honor.

"That's funny, because I seemed to be hearing a whole lot of it."

"You... you... you're wrong." You finish defeated.

"So what was it that had you giggling so much?"

You sigh. "You're not going to let go of that word are you?"

"No, but I won't tell anyone else if it makes you feel better."

You roll your eyes before you realize he can't see it. On second thought, you don't care. There's something therapeutic about eye rolling. "My distraction is old horror movies."

He laughs. "And that helps you calm down?"

"The keyword there is old. They're cheesy and over acted. It's great. Anyway, horror is a lot less unsettling when you've seen and been part of so much of it in real life."

He nods. "Did something happen when you were out crime fighting recently?"

You almost forgot that you'd just told Nick about working for Fisk, Not Mike. "Uh, nothing in particular. I guess it's all getting to me."

He hears your heart rate speed up as you lie. He's tempted to leave it alone, but he remembers that Foggy was upset about that exact thing. If things go according to plan, the two of you will get closer and he doesn't want to start off lying to you. There's no reason to anyway; you know about his night job. "I don't mean to be invasive, but I can tell you're lying."

You furrow your brows. "Uh, what makes you think I'm lying?"

He sighs. "Your heartbeat speeds up when when you lie."

You sit there with your mouth agape for probably a full minute. "You can hear my heartbeat?"

"Yeah. It helps anticipate behavior and read emotions. Heartbeats are like facial expressions for me."

"Wow. Better than facial expressions it sounds like."

"Maybe." He agrees before continuing. "I don't expect you to tell me anything. Sometimes it just feels dishonest knowing more about a person than they've told you."

"Even today with social media?"

"It's more work than it's worth for me." He motions to his vacant eyes.

"Right."

"Anyway, I should let you get some rest." He stands to leave.

"I'm glad you came by."

"I'm glad you let me in."

You make the hasty decision to hug him, and he hugs you back before you have the time to overthink it. "Thank you." you whisper into his ear before you pull back to gauge his reaction.

He reluctantly lets his hands fall away from you. "What are you thanking me for?"

"Everything. Pulling me out of that dumpster and letting me stay with you for the day, for coming over and listening. I needed it tonight."

"Oh." He dismisses you with a wave. "I'm glad to. Any time you need anything, or just want to talk, I'm right across the hall."

"I'll keep that in mind."

He nods. "Good. I'll see you later."

"Yeah, good night."


	5. Chapter Five

Matt’s been sitting for two hours listening to Luke Cage, Danny Rand, and Jessica Jones talk about who should join their little team. It’s bothering him that he’s here and not out on the street helping people. Still, he joined this team because he truly believes that they’ll be able to help more people together.

“What about that girl? They’re calling her The Valkyrie.” Luke suggests.

Matt tilts his head toward Luke. “I haven’t heard of her.”

“Formerly ‘the winged vigilante.’”

Matt doesn’t respond, but he listens more intently for Danny and Jessica’s opinion.

“Do we know anything about her, aside from what’s filtered through the media?” She inquires.

Matt hesitates. He doesn’t know why, it’s not like he’s ratting you out. This is an opportunity for you. He clears his throat. “Yeah, I ran into her.”

“Would you like to share Murdock?” Danny prompts.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry. I woke up in a dumpster-”

“Again?” Luke interrupts.

Matt ignores him. “Anyway, just as I woke up she fell from roof right on top of me.”

“How does someone with wings fall from a roof?” Danny asks.

“She was unconscious before she fell.”

Jessica crosses her arms. “Maybe she’s under qualified then.”

“Hey, I was in that dumpster first.” A bout of silence follows. “Look, we all started somewhere. If we’re going to start our own organization, we need more people. Anyway, I have a feeling I caught her on an off night.”

“I agree with Matt. I think we should at least approach her. It seems like she could be a formidable ally.” Luke states.

Jessica raises an eyebrow. “Assuming she would be an ally.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Matt asks through a laugh. “She hasn’t done anything that should lead us to believe that she’s a foe.”

“I guess. If you two think we should try to get her on board. Danny, what do you think?”

“I think it would be good to get more people with abilities on the team.” He shrugs.

“Alright. Matt, you said she was unconscious in the dumpster. Do we even know that she made it out?”

“Yeah. I took her to my place until the next day.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Luke chimes in.

“What, was I supposed to just leave her there? I knew she was alive.”

“So can you contact her?” Jessica continues.

“Yeah.”

“Alright, why don’t you bring her with you next time?”

“I’ll talk to her and see what she says.”

-0-

Your fist hovers over Matt's door. You can feel the nerves at the tips of your fingers and in your gut. The door looms in front of you as you fidget, not knowing what to do with your hands. He said to come over if you needed anything, right? You make the hasty decision to knock, and decide it was a bad idea just a quick. Just as you’re about to turn around and leave the door swings open.

“Hey.” The man smiles. “You’re not the delivery guy.” He observes.

You weren’t expecting someone else so it takes you off guard for a minute but you recover fairly quickly. “And you’re not Mike.”

"Ugh. Really Mike? You're giving girls fake names now? That's just rude." Foggy shakes his head.

“Thanks Foggy.” 'Mike' comes to the door. “Hey, sorry about him.”

You laugh. “It’s no problem. Maybe I should come back later though.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

You shift to make sure Foggy isn’t listening. “It’s bout my night job, I was wondering if you could help.”

“Oh, don’t worry, he knows about me. I actually wanted to talk to you about working together. Uh, do you have a phone? As much as I like spending time with you, I think it might be more efficient to call each other.”

You chuckle. “Yeah maybe.”

He takes out his phone and hands it to you. “Do you mind?” He ducks his head with a small smile.

“Oh, yeah. No problem.” You put your number in and hand it back to him.

“So is it under Robin then?”

“No.” You smile.

He raises his brows. "So I have your real name now?"

"Yep."

“Do you mind telling me what it is? So I know who to look for?" You hesitate, and he picks up on it. "I'm Matt. I don't Believe we've been properly introduced." He holds his hand out.

You smile and shake his hand as you tell him your name.

He breathes out your name, saying it like he's tasting each syllable. "It suits you."

"Thanks."

He nods. "Yeah. I’ll have Foggy text you from my phone.”

“Alright, I look forward to hearing from you.”

“Yeah. I’d invite you in, but we’re in the middle of a case and-”

“No, I get it. I’ll talk to you later.”

He nods. “Bye.”

-A week later-

You’re sitting at a table at a place called Josie’s Bar when you see Matt walk in. “I was starting to worry that you’d forgotten about me.”

“Of course not. So what did you need help with?”

“Well Nick and I have been looking into a local Mob and we have a lot to go off of but I can’t take them down alone. I’ve mainly been preventing them from making progress. They’re trying to get into human trafficking.”

“That’s perfect.”

You look at him like Nick looks at you when you say stuff like that. “I hope there’s more to that sentence.”

“Oh god, that must’ve sounded horrible. There’s a group of us who are starting to work together. A heroes for hire type thing. We decided that we should talk to you to see if you’re interested. The case you have is exactly the reason I’ve been meeting with them. I think we can be more effective as a team for things like this.”

“That’s awesome. Yeah, I’d love to meet the other members. The only thing is, I'm unclear on the whole 'heroes for hire' thing. Do I have to pay you guys for help?”

"Well, we're unclear on it as well. We do need to take some cases to get some traction though."

"Okay then. This sounds like a job for the Defenders!" You joke.

He laughs. "The defenders. That has a certain ring to it doesn't it?"

You smile. "I was just making a joke. But it is shorter than The heroes for hire."

"I like it. Do you mind if I pitch it to the others? Or I guess you could."

"It's fine. Knock yourself out."

“Great. We’re all meeting up to talk tonight. Do you want to come?”

“That sounds great, but can I bring Nick? We’re more of a team.”

Matt thinks about it. “Is he the one you mentioned that first day we met?”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry.”

He shakes his head and chuckles. “It’s fine. The others might put up a stink but I’m not going to tell you no. If you trust him with your secret, I do too.”

“Do you think it’ll be an issue?”

“They’re just expecting you, they don’t know anything about him. Jessica is the most cautious. If anyone has a problem it’ll be her. I just want to let you know so you know what to expect.”

You nod. “Why don’t you talk to the others and get back to me. Tell them I’m willing to come if he can come with me.”

He nods. “So you won’t if they say no?”

“Like I said, we’re more of a team. Maybe I can give you cases like this though.”

“Alright. I’ll let you know.”

“Okay.”

“Well I think that’s enough about work for now. How are you doing since the other night?” He tries to be gentle in his prodding. He doesn't want to push too much.

You shrug. “Fine I guess. Nick found something I’d been keeping from him. I’m just happy it didn’t cause a rift in our friendship.”

“Yeah, you were smart to include him on the vigilante secret from the beginning.”

“How long has your friend known?”

“About six months.”

“Oh.” You refrain from asking after it.

Matt can almost feel your curiosity. “Yeah, It took him a while to come around. He still doesn’t like it though.”

“The whole ‘working outside the law’ thing doesn’t sit well with a lawyer?” You ask with a grin.

Matt shrugs. “Foggy’s a great guy. He’s the nicest person you’ll ever meet, really. I'm not just saying that. He also thinks that we should be doing things by the book. I tried that, but it doesn’t always work.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m not a lawyer anymore.”

He nods. “If you have the ability, sometimes the only way to help people is to work outside the law.”

“Exactly.”

“So what exactly does Nick do?”

“He helps with research and tech. His mother put him through nursing school, but he hated it. He put himself through community college after that and now he's a mechanical engineer.”

“Wow. He helps you, so I assume he doesn’t have an issue with any of this.”

“No. I think he thinks it’s kind of cool. For the most part, he's on the computer, so he doesn’t see what goes on in the field except from a monitor. He’ll make comments here and there that make me feel bad- not on purpose of course. It’s just obvious sometimes that he feels like he’s somehow inferior or replaceable. I don’t think I treat him like that- god I hope I don’t- but he’s always been the nerd. I befriended him in sixth grade, we were both loners and awkward. Since then we’ve sort of been a package deal.”

Matt nods. “So if you two are so inseparable what’s stopped you from getting together?”

You sigh. “And you were off to such a good start.”

Matt nods. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry, I just want to get to know you.”

“It’s fine, it’s just the first thing everyone asks.”

“Do I get any points for waiting this long to ask?” He grins.

“Maybe a couple.” You smile. “Anyway, we’re friends; it’s that simple. It’s not that we’re afraid to ruin it with something more, we just don’t see each other like that.”

He nods. “Okay. So he’s like your brother with the benefit of never having to live in the same house.”

“Yeah, I guess.” You pause. "So my question for you is why aren't you and Foggy an item if you're so close?"

He chuckles. "Point taken."

You end up talking for a couple more hours, almost losing track of time.

“Uh, did you say you needed to leave to meet the others at 9?” You ask.

“Yeah. What time is it?”

“8:30.”

“Oh wow. I guess I better get going.” He starts gathering his stuff.

“Sorry I kept you so long.” You wrap your arms around yourself.

He smiles. “Really? I’m not. I had a great time.”

“Me too. I think I’m going to head back too.” You pause. “Want to split a cab?”

“Sure. Lead me?” He puts his arm out.

“Matt, you don’t have to act like you’re helpless around me.” You say, taking his arm all the same.

He shrugs. “It takes concentration and energy to use my senses. I’m going to need all the energy I can get with the conversation ahead of me.”

“Well if it’s too much, I’ll come tell them myself.” You say as you flag down a cab.

“That’s not what I meant.” He pauses as you both get in and tell the cab driver the address. “We’re still getting to know each other and finding the best ways to communicate. There’s a fair amount of bickering at this point.”

“Oh. I guess that’s going to happen when you get that many people trying to agree on a common goal that means this much.”

He nods and the rest of the ride back is fairly quiet. It’s not like you can discuss this too much with an audience. When you get to your apartment Matt hugs you and gives you a fleeting kiss on the cheek.

“We should do this again. Without the business next time.”

“Are you asking me on a date Murdock?”

He smiles. “Are you accepting?”

You throw your best squinty eyes at him before you realize it’s no good. “Yes.”

“Then it’s a date.”  
You smile. “Alright. You’re going to be late.”

“It was worth it.”

“Yeah, go get me a job.” You can’t keep the smirk off your face.

He chuckles and heads into his apartment with a little wave.


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and Matt finally go on a date

Matt knocks on your door the morning after the meeting.

“Hey Matt, come on in.” You head to the sofa and he follows.

“I won’t keep you in suspense; the other Defenders agreed that Nick is free to join along with you if he wants."

”That’s great! So they liked the name too?”

He chuckles. “I think it’s the first thing we’ve all agreed on."

“Well good.”

“There’s more. Your respect for their identities and loyalty to Nick only gives them more confidence in you. I’m not going to lie, some were unsure about you.”

“Well that’s good then, but why were they unsure?”

He shrugs. “Any new recruit has the potential to turn. We’re trying to start a group that can work together for the good of the people. They don’t know you yet; you can understand that.”

“I guess.” You shrug.

“You guess?”

“Well if you think about it, I’m trusting them on nothing more than your word.”

“I guess that’s true. I hope you can forgive us for being cautious.”

“Yeah I get it.” There’s a moment of silence between you and you can feel it growing awkward. “Don’t worry. My feelings aren’t hurt.” You playfully bump shoulders with him.

He lets out a chuckle. “I’m glad. You had me worried for a minute.”

“Please, I’m not that fragile.”

“I should’ve known.”

“Maybe, but I won’t hold it against you.”

“I appreciate it.” He pauses. “So about that date.”

“Yes?”

“What are you doing tonight at 6?”

“I don’t have plans.”

“Great. How does dinner at my place sound?”

“That sounds nice.”

“Good.” He smiles.

You hum in response. “Alright, now go home so I can tell Nick about my hot date.”

“Nick?” Matt laughs.

“Yeah, he’s always pushing me to get a personal life. He claims that all I do is work. Anyway, it’s not like have anyone else to dish to. And I have to talk to him about joining the Defenders, so that’s less phone calls to make.” You ramble.

“You know, that attitude is probably why you don’t have anyone else to dish to.” He chuckles.

You shrug. “I’ve never been the type that needs people surrounding me. A few close friends is all I need. But if you know anyone feel free to send me their references.”

He laughs again. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He pauses. “Anyway, I guess I’ll let you get to your gossip then.”

“Yeah, what are you still doing in my house?” You grin as you follow him to the door.

“See you tonight.”

“Yeah, see you.”

-0-

At six on the dot you knock on his door. You decided to take advantage of his knowledge of you and let your wings free. You realize that it's adding to the first date jitters so you turn to run back to your apartment to throw on your harness. Then the door opens behind you. You turn to see Matt with the most adorable grin standing in the doorway.

"Hey." He greets.

"Uh, hi." You say as you stand there, clutching the bottle of wine you brought.

"So, do you want to come in or are we having a picnic in the hallway?"

You let out a nervous laugh. "Let's go in and crack into this wine."

"Good choice." He steps to the side and you tuck your wings in as you walk past him.

“Dinner is just about ready, you can sit wherever you want.” He tells you as he walks into the kitchen.

“Thanks.” The first thing you notice is the dish towel over his shoulder. The next thing is that it's the first time you've seen him in casual clothes. As you take in the sight of him putting the finishing touches on the meal, you decide that you like how domestic he looks.

You chat through dinner and he takes both your plates into the kitchen after you finish. When he joins you on the sofa again he brushes against your wing and you flinch away.

He hears your heart rate speed up and your sharp intake of breath. “I’m sorry. Is your wing still healing?”

“No- well yeah I guess, but you didn’t hurt me. It's the other one that's broken.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“I’m used to them being safely tucked away. Even Nick gawks when he sees them.”

Matt nods and you can see a question forming and sitting idle in his head. “They sound fascinating. Can-” He cuts himself off and clears his throat.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“You started to ask something.”

He sighs. “I was just going to ask if I could feel them.” He murmurs.

You think back to your last boyfriend. He's seen it as some sort of kink, and when he wasn’t fucking you he used it as a power play. The first time you told him you didn’t like him touching your wings, he made you feel guilty. He said it was unfair to be dating someone and not be able to touch them in any way he wanted. You were young, and eager to please him because you thought you were in love, so you’d believed him and let it go. After that, he always made a point to touch your wings even though he knew it made you uncomfortable. And he kept doing it, knowing you wouldn’t tell him to stop.

Matt mistakes your hesitation for offence.

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t the right response to that information.”

“No, it’s okay. It's just that the last guy I was with was a real dick about it." You take his hands and put them on your shoulders.

"Are you sure? Is there some sort of etiquette? I don't want to be a dick."

You laugh. "No, it's fine. He just did it to show me he could. You know, show that he had power over me. I've learned the words no and stop since then though. Anyway, I'm not worried about that with you." You offer a mall smile, wondering if he'll somehow sense it. "Go ahead.”

He returns your smile as he starts running his hands along the wing that's closest to him. You knew he wouldn't be like your ex, but it shocks you how he's being. This man sitting before you could snap someone's bones without blinking an eye. Yet, he's so gentle with you. He starts smoothing over the top then around to the bottom, feeling the shape. Then he runs his hands over the rest of your wing, feeling the feathers. “What color are they?”

“Black. Comes in handy for blending in at night.”

He smiles and sits back. “I bet. Thank you, for letting me see them.”

“Yeah.” You think about it. “So is that how you form a mental picture of people?”

He nods. “Usually I feel their faces though.” He breathes out a nervous chuckle.

“Oh. Do me, I want you to know what I look like.”

He smiles. “Okay.” He wipes his hands on his jeans before he brings them up to your face. He’s about an inch away when you scoot closer, closing the distance. “So um, tell me about yourself. What color are your eyes and hair? What’s your skintone?” he tries to fill the silence.

You answer his questions as his hands roam your face. When his hand brushes over a scar just above your eyebrow, he doesn’t say anything about it. He just lingers on it for a second longer than he’s been doing with the rest of your face before moving on.

“I know it doesn’t mean much coming from a blind man, but you’re beautiful. From what I can perceive anyway.”

You feel yourself heating up. Great. You hate blushing. Then you realize that he can’t see you blushing and a rush of relief floods through you. (Though the blush doesn’t go away.) “It means more than you think.”

He tries to keep the smile off his face but he fails.

“What are you smiling at?” His smile spreads to your face.

“Nothing, I’m happy. That’s all.”

“You sure?”

“That, and you’re cute when you blush.”

Your eyes go wide. “How do you know I was blushing?”

“You still are.” He grins before he answers your question. “When I say I have heightened senses I mean it. I felt your body temperature go up.”

“Goddammit. I thought you wouldn’t notice.”

He shakes his head, grin still present. “I usually notice more than a seeing person would. I don’t mean to brag, I’m just used to compensating.”

You nod. “Good to know. I think it’s time you tell me more about your senses so I know what I’m dealing with here.”

He chuckles. “Fair enough.”

You scoot closer and put your head in your hands; watching him as you wait for him to continue.

He feels your weight shifting on the sofa next to him and thinks he has a pretty good idea of your position based on how the air moves around you. He chuckles. “I wish I could see your face right now.”

“Why now?”

He still has a smile on his face. “I feel like you'd look adorable looking up at me with your head in your hands like that.”

“Okay, that’s sweet, but I’m kind of freaked out about how you know that.”

“So, as you know, I have heightened senses. I can feel direction and mass. The easiest way to explain it is like being in a car. If you’re in the town you grew up in, or a place you know well, you’d know how to get around, right?”

“Yeah.” You bite, even though you don’t know where he’s going with this yet.

“Okay. So, if you’re the passenger in a car and you close your eyes you’d be able to tell if the driver took a wrong turn or went too far. Just from how it feels turning, or how long it takes before you get from point a to point b, right?”

“Okay, I guess that makes sense. But how do you know what people are doing? Like gestures and different things.”

“Body heat, how the air moves around them. I mix a lot with what I hear. When I was a kid, after my dad died, there was this guy named stick.

“The one you told me about.”

“Yeah. The orphanage hired him for me. He helped me learn to control my senses. He’d take me to a park so I could take in my surroundings and he’d tell me what everything I was perceiving meant. He taught me to use deductions to fill in the blanks. So when someone’s lying, their heart rate speeds up. When someone’s flustered their body temperature goes up. When someone’s scared, their breathing might hitch. Different things like that.”

“So you can tell what people are feeling based on those signals?”

“Yeah. Sometimes I’ll be able to tell something’s off, but I don't know what. I remember one time when I was in the park a girl walked by with a guy. Her skin was too hot, her heart was beating fast, I thought she was sick.”

“What was wrong with her?”

“She was in love.”

That little realization is a bit too much for you and you start getting scared. You’ve never been one to show your emotions and you’re not sure how you feel about someone being able to read you like that.

“I’m sorry if that makes you uncomfortable.” He says quietly, having picked up on your fear.

“Are you basing that off people in the past or what you picked up from me?”

“Both.” When you don’t respond right away he asks: “Is this going to be an issue?”

“I um, I don’t know how I feel about this. I’m used to having a carefully crafted mask on. My emotions are only obvious when I want them to be. I guess it’s kind of scary for me to be so open with someone. Especially right away.”

He nods. “I’ve learned to tune it out over the years so now I have to focus on letting it in. I’m used to using it when I talk to people though. I’m sorry if it’s invasive.”

You think about it for a while. “No, it’s okay. That’s how you function, that’s fine.”

“Are you sure?”

You nod. “Yeah. Nick is the only person I’ve ever trusted enough to really be myself around, but I’m starting to trust you too. You seem like a decent guy Matt.”

He smiles. “Thank you, I’m glad.”

“Me too.” You snuggle up to his side.

He smiles as he drapes his arm around you. You end up talking for a few more hours before you realize what time it is.

“Oh, I’m sorry it’s already 11, I didn’t mean to overstay my welcome.” You pop up from the sofa.

He shakes his head and stands. “You didn’t. I lost track of time too. I guess you’re just interesting to talk to.”

You smile. “Thanks. I had a great time tonight.”

“Me too.” He pauses. “So, may I walk you home?”

You laugh. “All the way across the hall?”

“Yes.” He rolls with it. “It’s not like I have a reason to worry you’ll get home okay, even if you did live far away. It’s just what you do.”

“Yes. You may walk me home.” You chuckle as you take his arm.

He smiles and walks across the hall with you. “Good night.” He leans in and kisses your cheek. “Thank you for humoring me.”

“Well if that’s my reward I might do it more often.” You grin.

“That can definitely be arranged.”

You chuckle. “Good night. Matt.”

“Night.”


	7. Chapter Seven

You, Nick, and Matt are the first ones to arrive at the place the defenders chose to meet tonight.

A fit, brunette woman is the next to arrive. “I’m Jessica.” She extends a hand first to you, then Nick.

The two of you introduce yourselves even though you have a suspicion that she already knows who you are.

“It’s good to finally meet you.” She tells you and Nick before acknowledging Matt.

When Luke Cage, and Iron Fist show up, they greet you in a similar fashion. Most of this meeting is just everyone getting to know the two of you. You’re thanking yourself for your conviction in only coming if Nick could because he’s helping take the attention off you. You’re also thankful for Matt sitting next to you, silently supporting you during the onslaught of questions. Matt made it sound like you were in if you agreed, but this is feeling more like an interview. Or to be more accurate, an interrogation. After a long while the questions come to an end and Luke asks the two of you to wait outside while they talk.

“Jesus this feels like a fraternity initiation.” You state.

“Yeah, but I get why they’re paranoid with what they’re trying to do. If one person changes their mind or turns, that’s it for everyone.” Nick replies.

“I guess. They probably don't want another Avengers situation.”

Almost half an hour passes before Matt Joins you outside. “How are you doing?”

“Fine I guess. Are you guys done in there?” You ask.

He smiles. “Yeah. Come on.”

You and Nick follow him back into the room and sit in your original spots. No one says anything so you prompt them. “Did anything happen in the last 30 minutes that we should know about ?”

Jessica shrugs. “We just confirmed what Matt thought. We think you’d be perfect for our team.”

“Okay, so bring us up to speed. How does this work? Is this like a street level Avengers initiative? Before it all went to shit.”

“In a way.” Danny confirms. “We’re heroes for hire. That way, we’re doing good, but it still pays the bills. It was starting to take a toll on some of us doing both our day jobs and vigilante work.”

“Anyway, We're hoping this will be different than the Avengers. Been there done that.” Jessica states.

“Wait, you were an Avenger?” Nick asks.

“Once upon a time. I went by Jewel, I got kidnapped by a guy who could control people’s willpower and nobody gave a shit.”

“Oh, that sucks man.” You say. “I’m sorry.”

She looks at you like it’s the first time anyone’s said that to her. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, so what types of missions do we go on, how do we know when to meet?” You ask.

Luke answers you. “We’re still trying to figure it out ourselves. We haven’t gone on any missions yet as we have different ideas of how we should work together and what cases to tackle. Right now we’re meeting once a week to discuss it. We’ve been picking different meeting places each week until we have somewhere solid. At the end of each meeting we pick a time and place for next time. We have everyone else's number but we try to only contact each other on the phone if it’s an emergency. Less chance of someone catching us that way.”

“Okay, that sounds pretty straight forward.” Nick states.

“So do you two need anymore information?” Danny asks.

You look at Nick and he shakes his head before you answer. “I think we’re good.”

“Okay. I think we can all agree it’s been a long night. Let’s get home.” Danny suggests.

“You say that every time Rand.” Luke rolls his eyes. “But yeah, I’m ready to call it a night.”

Everyone bids each other goodbye before going their separate ways.

“It would be so much easier if you just lived in the same building.” You tell Nick as he goes to hail a cab.

“Well how was I supposed to know we were going to join a vigilante gang?”

“We were our own really small vigilante gang before all this.”

“You mean last week?”

“Yeah.”

He shakes his head and chuckles. “Yeah okay. I’ll see you later.” He says as he gets into the cab that just pulled up.

“Bye.”

You decide to walk to your apartment building with Matt instead of flying and he decides not to parkour home.

“So what did you think?” Matt asks you as you make your way back to your apartment building.

“You’re an interesting group. Does the bickering get worse? Because it didn’t seem too bad.”

“That’s because most of it happened when you and nick were outside.” He chuckles.

“When do you think it’ll be a good time to bring up the Mob case?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know them much better than you, to be honest. I would say the sooner the better, but that could just be me being restless.”

“Oh I’ll get restless really fast, especially since I can’t do anything with my wing like it is.”

He nods. “How long do you think it’ll take before you can use it again?”

“At least five weeks.”

He nods. "I know Danny has some sort of healing factor, maybe he could help you out."

"Maybe."

He tilts his head. "Doesn't it hurt strapped in the harness like that while it's broken?"

"It's not comfortable, no. It beats flaunting them around though."

He nods. "Well, I think they're beautiful."

"Thanks Matt."

-A week later-

You've shared your intel with your fellow defenders and they seem to like the idea. Which is perfect, because the crime circle you're going after is recruiting right now. One of you can go under cover, but you'll have to plan it carefully.

“We need to go undercover to get more information. Val and Daredevil are the only ones who don't have a past if they start digging.” Luke states. 

“I'm a terrible liar.” You panic. Because when they start digging they'll find your ties to Fisk. And if they find out about your past, so will your new group. The last thing you're ready for is to go in another crime circle, even if it is under cover.

“I find that hard to believe coming from someone with a secret identity.” Jessica states.

“No, it's true. That's why nick knows. He's my only real friend. Definitely the only one I talk to enough for it to come up.”

“Well that's a problem because Matt is blind. It's not like he can tell them about his powers without the risk of them making the connection.”

“I just don't want to blow the whole operation. I'm sorry.”

Matt knows that you're a good liar until he's involved. He knows you're hiding something, but he also knows what that's like. You're entitled to your secrets. He can tell from your last sentence, that you're trying to protect the team. So he decides not to bring it up till he has you alone.

"And Nick, you can't go in the field?" Danny asks. 

"Yeah, I'd just slow him down."

“Okay, Matt? Any ideas?” Luke asks.

Matt shrugs. "Madam Gao used blind people for her heroin trade. I can say I worked for her and I'm looking for employment since she dropped off the face of the planet. I could be looking for a more loyal employer after she left everyone when the fire broke out. No one would look at a blind person twice. My biggest asset is people's doubt.”

Jessica nods. “That sounds like it'll work.”


	8. Chapter Eight

You hear a knock on the door and Matt calls your name.

“Hey Matt, what’s up?”

“Can I come in?”

You step aside. “Sure.”

“Thanks.” He walks over and takes a seat on the sofa, getting right to the point once you join him. “Why didn’t you want to come undercover with me? And don’t say you’re a bad liar, because that’s not true.”

“If it’s not true, then how would you know that I was lying?”

“You know how. You could convince anyone else that the sky is green, and you know it.”

You bite your lip. “Yeah. Fair enough.”

“I didn’t want to put you on the spot in front of everyone, which is why I'm talking to you now." He runs a hand through his hair. "You lied to us; I wanted to give you a chance to explain yourself. And I'm sorry if I sound patronizing, but you have to understand, we need a sense of trust among the group.”

You nod. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I just have some skeletons, okay? I’m not ready to have that information running wild in everyone’s head. It could’ve compromised the mission though. That was the truth.”

He nods, letting his hand rest over yours. “Well, when you’re ready, I’m here.”

You swallow the lump in your throat. “Thank you Matt. You have no idea how much it means to me that you’re not pushing this.”

He pulls you into his arms and runs his hands through your feathers, careful to gauge your reaction. When you let out a shuddering breath, and curl against him, he continues his ministrations. “I’m sorry I was accusatory. I just wanted to make sure-” He sighs and starts over. “I’ve made the mistake of lying to my friends over and over again. It tears people apart and I needed to make sure you have a good reason.”

You nod against him. “Yeah, I learned that the hard way with Nick. Remember that night you came over at like 3 in the morning?”

“Yeah.”

“Well that’s what Nick found out about." Your fingers idly play with the hem of his shirt. "I’ll try to come to terms with telling you, at least.”

“You don’t have to, I don’t want to push you.”

“I know, but I like you; a lot. I want to trust you with this.”

He smiles. “Thank you.”

-0-

This time you’re meeting in one of the buildings Danny’s company owns. Everyone was dubious about meeting at a place so close to one of you, but Danny drew the curtains in the conference room, and that was the end of it.

Matt agreed to go into the thick of things, but Matt is also stubborn and wants to do things his way. You all tried to get him to wear an earpiece, but he said it would mess with his senses too much. Okay, fair enough, but he also won’t wear a wire. The only thing you’ll have on your side is Nick’s ability to hack into the security cameras and keep track of Matt. If anything goes too sideways, you can go in for backup. 

“Hey, y/n.” Danny addresses you.

“What’s up?”

“Do you have a suit?”

“I have an outfit I wear, yeah.”

“Maybe you should be ready incase you need to help extract Matt.”

“I would agree, but my wing is still healing. I can help watch out with Nick.”

“Come here, I might be able to heal it.” He pauses. “If you want.”

“Okay, uh, let me go take the harness off.” 

He nods.

You take a while to come back, worried about others seeing your wings. It was a big enough step with Matt, and you're comfortable with him. Not to mention, he’s blind. You bite your lip and think of Matt and what he's about to do for the group. For your secret. What if something went wrong and he needed help- your help? You wouldn't be able to forgive yourself if he got hurt- or worse- because you couldn't get over yourself. You take a breath and step out into the room, wings out on display.

What you see, isn’t what you were expecting. You were expecting staring, sure, and that you got. What surprises you though, are their expressions. Instead of looks of pity, or fear, it’s intrigue, evolving into admiration. Nick and Matt look proud, standing next to each other, Smiling at you. Which is now making your embarrassment morph into awkwardness.

“So, uh, here I am. Busted wing and all. Think you can fix it?”

Danny lets you walk over and sit in front of him. “Okay, do you mind if I touch your wing?”

You shake your head.

“Okay.”

He takes a minute to center himself before he rests his hand at the base of the fracture. His hand is unnaturally warm, but not painful or unwelcome. Now that you think about it, it’s less the temperature, and more a fuzzy sensation surrounding the bone as the crack solidifies. Out of the corner of your eye, you notice a faint yellow-green glow coming from where his hand is resting on your wing.

In front of you, you can see Matt's head tilted to the side, listening as his jaw flexes. Luke, Jessica, and Nick are all too fixated on the scene before them to notice though. After Danny sits back, Matt takes a deep breath and let's it out before speaking again. 

“Better?” Matt asks, trying to pick up on any signs of distress from you.

Is Matt jealous? You wonder. Is it because you told him about the ex-boyfriend being a dick about it? In any case, you stand and give your wings a couple flaps, testing out the strength of the bone. The movement causes a bigger burst of wind than you were expecting, and a few papers along with the paper weight holding them down, to fly off a nearby desk. You duck your head and rush to pick them up. “Sorry. Yeah, it’s better. Thank you Danny.” You tell him, heat rising to your cheeks in embarrassment.

He smiles. “No problem.”

“Hey Val?” Luke starts.

You smile at the nickname. “Yeah?”

“Am I right in assuming that you haven’t used your wings much?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’ve used them before, but always from a rooftop, or out in the woods somewhere when we went on vacation. They’re usually tucked away. To be honest, it’s actually a surprisingly useless talent. Like running. You still have to build up your strength, and it’s exhausting. Mostly good for a quick getaway.”

Luke nods. “But just now, you weren’t even trying, and you made a paperweight slide from the middle of the desk and fall off. I felt the gust it created. Have you thought about using that aspect of it? Seems like you could knock a lot of enemies down at once in close quarters.”

“I guess. The only problem is the second someone gets too close, I’d lose momentum and it wouldn’t be as effective.”

Jessica nods along with Luke. “I think with some experimenting, strategizing, and practice, that could come in handy. The five of us should make time for training sessions so we can be more effective as a team. Nick, you can feel free to join too. I know I could do with some practice. I can fly too, but it’s more like guided falling. And I never work out, who knows how strong I could be if I did?”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Right now we’re going for subtlety though, and only one of us is going in.” Matt points out. “We should focus on this Mission, then learn how to work better as a team.”

“Yeah.” Luke agrees. “Nick, do you have the security feed yet?”

“I started looking into what security systems they have and if I’d need any extra tech. These guys are amateurs, just scrabbling to pick up whatever scrap they can get from what Fisk left behind. The tech guys they have must be kids they picked up off the street. I’m guessing broke college students. Maybe they threatened some pretentious douche that only sounds like he knows what he's doing.”

“We get it. They’re idiots, and you’re a genius. We’re probably all idiots too.” You cross your arms. “Are you in yet or not?”

Nick frowns at you. “No. Not to sound all high and mighty,” He throws you a pointed look. “But I don’t need that much time to hack in, so I haven’t. The less time I’m in there, the less chance we have of them finding out I’m there at all. Give the word when you’re ready and I can get get the footage up in 20 minutes at most.”

Danny nods. “Alright, bring it up. We need to know what he’s walking into.”

While Nick is working, Matt briefs the group on his most recent activities. “I went to a low level criminal I keep running into as Daredevil and told him I was looking for work.” He pauses. “Sorry, that was unclear. I went to him as Matt Murdock and told him I was looking for work. He has his hands in everything, ties to all the gangs in Hell’s kitchen. I went with the story that I worked for Gao. As far as he knows, her organization dropped off the face of the planet, so there’s no reason for him to go digging for someone to corroborate my story. As I suspected, he referred me to this particular group of low lifes and told me they’d be in touch. Now it’s just a waiting game.”

-0-

Matt knows the plan. Meet the criminals at the warehouse by the docks- why is it always there? Have his ‘interview’ and convince them that he’s here to serve. That’s all he has to do. Once he’s in, he can keep his head down and feed you guys information so you can take this gang out. Gang my be too mild of a term though. He can hear your heart beating loud and clear as you wait at your perch atop a nearby building. Of course the others are in various places around him too, but you’re the one who helps him focus, helps him calm. Because he has to be calm for this. If they suspect anything, everything will go to shit. They’ll go digging, finding the Defenders on their ass.

“Matt Murdock.” The one in charge greets.

Matt turns his head to face the man. “That’s me.”

“You can call me Elwin.”

Matt nods. “Elwin. You sound young.” He tilts his head to the side.

“You’re perceptive Pops literally bit the bullet recently, thanks to that Punisher guy. I’m now the youngest president we’ve ever had.” The kid doesn’t sound the least bit remorseful.

Matt puts on his most charming smile. “Congratulations on your promotion then. And I’m sorry for your loss.”

“I’m not.” He sits in one of the chairs. “Guy was a dick, but he was one of the founders, so a lot of the patch members had a hard time disagreeing with him to his face.” He observes Matt, standing there holding his cane, centering himself. “Sit.”

Matt feels for a chair and does as he’s told.

“Enough about that. You can get the lay of the land once you’ve got a vest. Turk says you used to work for some lady from chinatown. Had the purest heroin on the market.”

“Madam Gao. Yes.”

“And what work did she have for a blind man?”

“All the people I worked with were blind. I think anyway, we never spoke. We packaged and delivered heroin for her.”

“I just have one question.”

“Of course.”

“How did you have time for that while you and your lawyer pal- Franklin, is it- were taking down Fisk?”

Matt chuckles. “I see why that would seem contradictory. It comes in handy to know every inch and loophole of the law as a criminal. Madam Gao was smart; she saw an opportunity to take out the man at the top and took it. We decided it would look better if we’d helped some people so there was nothing suspicious when we were involved in such a high profile case.”

Elwin nods. “That’s pretty elaborate. Lots of unnecessary work.”

“A lot of it wasn’t unnecessary. At least two of the cases before Fisk’s incarceration were directly related to his illicit activity. If you look back, we started our little firm right before all this came to light. Now Nelson is off on his own business and I’m jobless.”

Elwin studies Matt before making some sort of gesture. Not wanting to give away his secret he pretends not to notice until two men are on Matt, restraining him. “That was a nice little story you told me, but I’m not an idiot. I don’t know what you were planning to accomplish, but it’s not going to happen.” He turns to the two men holding Matt. “Put him in room 2.”


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a graphic description of torture in this chapter, so just be aware I guess. It's short though. I wrote this forever ago, but changed the type of torture last night and it kind of wrote itself.

The fight went horrible. Elwin- what kind of asshole name is that- had negotiations with another decent sized gang today. Despite four enhanced people on your side, there were way more of them and they had a few enhanced people of their own. The four of you were lucky to escape with your lives.

When you get back to base, you, Jessica, Luke, and Danny all collapse on different surfaces. Nick is hunched over his laptop, head in his hands, looking as wrecked as you feel. The only thing running through your mind is: why did it have to be Matt? Followed soon after by: because you’re selfish and wouldn’t go with him because you’re scared of your past.

“Nick? Do you still have the security footage up?” You walk over and put a hand on his back.

He looks up at you, clutching the screen to his chest. “No, you don’t want to see this.”

“Nick stop trying to protect me and show me the goddamn footage.”

He closes the laptop. “No. Watching this will only work you up more. You need to go home and go to bed. All of us do.”

“You expect me to sleep when Matt is in there getting beaten and killed?”

“Yes. We’re no good to him like this. We need to get some rest and put together a solid plan first thing in the morning.”

“No, we need to help him now.”

Nick wraps his arms around you. “We’re all worried. We all feel like we let him down, but there’s nothing we can do till the morning. Come on, let me take you back to your apartment.”

“No.” You push him away. “I’ll make it by myself. When are we meeting tomorrow? Does 6 sound good?”

“It’s two in the morning. We’ll meet at 7 tomorrow.” Jessica says as she walks out, the others following.

-0-

Matt gets his ass beat on a regular basis, but nothing he’s ever experienced has been this bad. It’s like he’s 9 again, in the hospital after he lost his sight; before Stick, unable to control his senses. He just has to feel and hear what comes at him. But this time there’s no comforting hands encircling his and pulling them to his face. There’s no deep rumble of his Father’s voice telling him it’s okay. Which is probably for the best. Because it’s not okay. He’s not okay. And he hates himself for it, it’s fucking water for Christ’s sake. He’s heard of chinese water torture before, but he never expected it to be this bad. He put his full faith in your young team when he put up such a pathetic excuse for a fight on his way in here. Now he can only hope it wasn’t in vein.

He has no sense of time; it could’ve been hours or days, but at some point he passes out. Then that sweet relief is taken from him when the sharp scent of smelling salts jolts him awake. To be more precise, his body tries to jolt, but the chains hold him in place. He manages to hold himself together in the time it takes the men to leave the room; breaking into open sobs after he hears the door shut.

It’s bad enough in itself laying here, stripped down to his boxers, chained to a metal table. He can feel each drop of blood, oozing through the thin layer of chafed skin on his wrists and ankles; and can’t tell if it’s worse than the incessant drop of water falling on his head. It falls over and over and over again, the vice holding his head in place so he can’t get away from it. The drops vary from fat splashes, breaking off into smaller drops rolling down the side of his face; to microscopic mist, feeling like needles stabbing, and soaking into his skin. If there was some sort of pattern, it might help. He could time it or something, but there isn’t anything to allow him any semblance of sanity. Each second or millisecond of relief he gets from the drops are just a cruel tease. He tries to let out a breath, only to feel that little needle again, or the fat chain of drops, reminding him of his situation.

His super senses are only making everything worse. He’s sure he wouldn’t be able to feel half of this if it wasn’t for them. His hearing is driving him insane along with the feel of the drops and bite of cool air in the room. He hears each individual drop, can hear the descent of the salt water making it’s way out of his eyes, down his temple and pooling in the cup of his ear. He doesn’t even notice how bad his shoulders ache from their position above his head.

-0-

You pace around the room as you listen to your fellow defenders discuss the best way to save Matt.

“Do we really know that this is the best course of action?” Danny asks.

“What the hell do you mean?” You snap.

“I’m just saying, if we go after him, it could compromise the whole operation. As far as they know, they beat us. We’re out of their lives”

“So, what?” You let out a humourless laugh. “Do you suggest we just let them kill him?”

“Of course not” He sneers. “But we need to be cautious about who we send and how the rest of us help.”

“Okay, that makes sense I guess. I’ll go.”

“Hang on Val.” Luke cuts in.

“What?” You snap.

“Are you sure you’re not too emotionally involved with this one?”

“Please elaborate.” You fold your arms and give him a sweet smile, covering up the absolute shit storm you want to release right now. Throwing a fit, no matter how well deserved, will not help Matt. And neither will lashing out at the only other people trying to help him right now.

Luke knows you well enough by now, not to be fooled by your singsong voice. “I’ve never seen you this high strung. Aren’t you pretty close to Matt?”

“I’m not sure I catch your meaning Mr. Jones.” You throw him a pointed glare.

He nods. “You’re right, there would be no stopping me if they got ahold of Jessica. But They can’t hurt me. You need back up. If we send you in alone, you’re just going to end up in his place.”

“He’s right.” Jessica concludes. “People do stupid shit when emotions are involved. If I was in your place, yeah I’d go in guns blazing. But you’re smarter than that, I know you are. This is bigger than you, this is bigger than him.”

“You’re lucky this is me and not Matt you’re convincing. So tell me what we’re going to do.”

Everyone just sits there staring at you.

You let out an exasperated sigh and walk over to Nick. “Alright tell me where he is, I need the exact location.”

Nick glances at the others.

“What are you looking at them for? Give me the location.”

“We both joined this team. I agree with them; you care about him too much. Someone else needs to go.”

“I would’ve done this for any one of you. We’re a team now; we need to look out for eachother. Yes, I’m emotional, but that isn’t going to impair my judgement when I’m out there fighting. Every second we waste bickering, is bringing Matt that much closer to death, if he’s not dead already. Now, if you still don’t think I can go out there, fine. Whatever. Right now isn’t the time to prove myself. But if you won’t give me a location and a game plan one of you better get out there and save him.”

They all look at each other.

“Nick, give her the location." Jessica directs. "Rand and I will cover for her while you and Luke give us intel from the van.”

Nick sighs and presses his lips into a thin line as he writes the location on a piece of paper and hands it to you. When you go to take it he only grips it tighter.

“Nick! We don’t have time for this. Spit it out.”

“Be safe.”

“I know.” You go to take it again but he still doesn’t let go.

“He’s in really bad shape. I need you to go in prepared for that.”

You swallow thickly. “Okay.”

He pulls you into a hug. “Don’t get killed trying to save him.”


	10. Chapter Ten

Nick told you to prepare for this, but you couldn’t ever prepare yourself for the sight before you. Matt lays on a metal table in nothing but his boxers- to make the freezing room worse you assume- iron chains wrapping around him, connecting at his ankles and wrists. A vise pins his head in place, while some archaic mechanism drips water drips on his head. That sight alone breaks your heart; but what kills you and ignites an unparalleled fury inside you, is the state Matt’s in. He’s shaking, though if it’s from the cold or panic, you’re not sure. Probably both. He’s muttering something unintelligible under his breath, but the bits you catch sound like a prayer. You lean over him and spread your wings out above his body, shielding him from what you can.

“Oh, Matt.” You whisper as you wipe the water off his forehead.

His only response is a soft whimper and more tears.

You struggle with the vise, but it won't budge. “Jessica, come here.” You whisper yell and Matt flinches at the sound. “It’s okay. You’re going to be okay. We’re here for you, it’s almost over.” You assure, but you’re not sure if you mean it more for him or yourself. 

“Oh my god.” She furrows her brows when she sees him; at a loss on where to start.

“The handle on the vise is too heavy for me.” You tell her.

She nods and twists it with ease, separating the iron.

Matt lets out a sob as his head lolls to the side, into your hand.

A series of four metallic snaps ring out through the room as she breaks the shackles and sets them down on the table. 

Matt goes to move his arms, but you stop him. “Take it slow. If it hurts, go back to the last position, okay? Don't force it. I’ll help you.”

He tries to say something, but ends up biting back another sob and nods.

“Alright. Don’t worry. Jessica and I are here, and Danny’s right outside, keeping watch.” You rub the sore muscles where his shoulders connect to his neck as he lowers his arms to his sides. 

“This will be quicker if I carry him. You and Rand cover for me.” Jessica tells you before pausing and looking down Matt. “Matt, is that okay?”

He nods, so she slides her arms under his knees and around his back, picking him up.

You nod and put a hand to your ear. “Okay, we got him. You guys ready to pick us up?”

“Yeah. We’re at the extraction site.” Luke responds.

“On our way out.”

The three of you have to stop to hide a few times on the way out. You'd much rather flee than fight when Matt's in this condition, so you're heeding Nick and Luke's warnings from the van. You and Danny cover for Jessica, making sure no one sets off any alarms. After you get outside, you stick behind Jessica, following her over to the the parking lot next door. When you get to the van, Nick opens the back door and moves out of the way so Jessica can set Matt down. 

“Check his vitals, I don’t know how this affected him.” You instruct.

It shouldn't be as surprising as it is that the first thing Nick does is drape a blanket over Matt's shoulders. Nick has known Matt's situation since yesterday- which makes you want to beat his ass for holding you back, but now is not the time. It's given him time to think through, and maybe even research, what he needs to do now. Because Nick's like that. As much as he didn't want to go into nursing, he's always been your mother hen. He'll tell you that you need rest then staying up worrying about you. Now he's doing the same for Matt.

Once Danny joins you, Luke starts driving.

“How is he?” Luke asks.

“His heart rate is high, but I think it’s just a panic attack.”

“Just a panic attack?” You growl.

“As opposed to a heart attack or stroke? Yes.”

Your mouth clicks shut at that. “Okay, Matt? Can you hear me?”

He nods.

“Can I touch you?”

He takes a second to gather himself before answering. “Yes.”

“Okay, I’m going to sit behind you and hold you, is that okay?”

He nods again.

“Okay.” You run a hand through his hair, your wings encircling and cocooning him. He lets out a shuddering breath as he lets his head rest against you.

“Where should I take you guys?” Luke asks.

“Does he need to go to the hospital for any reason?” You ask Nick.

“It wouldn’t be a bad idea. I’m not a doctor-”

“No.” Matt murmurs. “No hospitals.

“You know, we could check you in under a fake name, just so they could check you out.” You offer.

Matt holds out his wrists so you can see the angry red, and purple splotches wrapping around them. “Look at this. Are you trying to tell me this won’t rouse suspicion?”

Everyone falls silent at that. There are many other arguments as to why he should go to the hospital, but everyone keeps them to themselves, not wanting to upset Matt further.

Nick just sighs and gestures to Matt in some parody of a shrug.

“Just take us to our apartment building.” You sigh.

“Are you staying with him?” Jessica asks.

“Yeah.”

“You don’t have to.” Matt says as he shudders in your arms.

“Matthew Michael Murdock, if you think I’m going to leave you alone after that, you have another thing coming.”

He quiets at that.

“Let us know if something goes wrong.” Jessica tells you.

“Seriously.” Luke calls back. “We’re here for you guys. We're a team.”

“Thanks. I’ll let you know.”

-0-

Matt wakes to the sound of your steady heart beat. You must’ve fallen asleep after you calmed him and got him to sleep. He takes a deep breath, breathing in your smell now that he has the luxury of controlled breathing back. There’s a musk there from when you were fighting and sweating your way in to save him. He doesn’t mind though, because underneath it is all you, and he can’t get enough of it. Now that his senses are back online, he tilts his head as he lets them map out your form beside him. You’re sitting up, hand in his hair while his head rests on your lap.

You wake with a jump to Matt’s hand running through the feathers of your wing.

“I'm sorry. I should've waited and asked first.”

You shake your head. “It's okay; it always is with you. I'm just not used to it.”

He gives you a half smile.

“How are you feeling? Do you need anything?”

He takes a deep breath. “You saw me a few hours ago. I’m doing about as well as you’d expect.”

You nod, knowing he’ll talk in his own time. “Are you hungry?”

He turns his head in your general direction. “Uh, yeah.”

“Well, what do you want?”

“I have some soup in the cupboard under the toaster, if you’re offering.”

“Okay, you stay here. I’ll get that for you.” You stand and give him a peck on the forehead.

“You know, I was hoping the next time I took you into my bedroom it would be under different circumstances.” He tells you as you walk away.

“Well technically, I brought you. Or Jessica did. If it makes you feel better.” You tell him from the doorway.

He chuckles, and you watch as the smile lines melt from around his eyes. “Thank you.”

You shrug. “Of course. And for the record, we need a standing plan incase this happens again. You should’ve heard us arguing.”

“I believe it.”

You leave to heat up the soup, and 20 minutes later, it’s done. When you bring it back, you sit and observe him in silence for a minute. “Do you think you’ll be alright for tonight?”

He nods. “I think so.”

“You don’t sound sure.”

“I’m fine, really. Get some rest. Thank you, again.”

“Of course, again.” You run a hand through his hair. “If you need anything, I’m right next door.”

He nods, but a look passes over his face that you can’t quite decipher.

“What is it Matt?”

“Would you mind staying here tonight? I’d uh,” he chuckles before he continues. “I’d feel a lot safer if you did.”

Your heart melts at that. “I can do that. Just let me go shower, and I’ll be right over.”

“Okay.”

-0-

On your way back, you make sure to shut the door quietly incase Matt fell asleep. When you poke your head in his room to check on him, he’s setting his bowl on the night stand.

“Hey.” He closes his eyes and lets his head fall back against the wall.

“Hey. You any better?”

“A little. I’m exhausted though.”

“I’ll let you go to sleep then. Is there an extra set of sheets or something for the sofa?”

“Please. I’m not going to ask you to stay here then make you sleep on the sofa.” He goes to get up but you stop him.

“That’s funny.” You let out a humorless laugh. “I’m sure I don’t have to remind you how you spent your night last night. You’re sleeping in your bed tonight.”

“Then what do you suggest?”

You hesitate. “We could both sleep in the bed.”

He raises his eyebrows. “That could work.”

“Okay. I’ll take your bowl into the kitchen then-”

“It’s fine, leave it.” He scoots over and lifts the covers so you can get under.

“Okay.” You turn off the light before you climb in bed next to him.

-A few hours later-

You're rudely awakened to the bed shaking, but then you remember where you are and why you're there. Matt is next to you, shaking, and struggling in his sleep.

You heard somewhere that you shouldn't wake someone who's having a nightmare. The problem, is that it was so long ago that you can't verify the source or the reason. All you know is that Matt is suffering next to you, and he's been through enough.

“Matt?” Nothing. “Matt wake up.” Nothing again, so you move to shake him. “Matt, it's just a nightmare, wake up.”

He startles awake next to you with a gasp and you give him some space.

“Are you alright Matt?”

He looks dazed as the city lights hit his skin. “I don’t know.” He sits up and puts his head in his hands.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I was back there- tied to that slab of metal.” He spits, before taking a few labored breaths. “I thought I could handle it. Shit, I take a beating every other night. I can handle that. But this-” he shakes his head. “This was archaic and psychological. I was blind. No radar, or fire vision to help me. It was just me, alone in that room, helpless- useless.”

“I’m sorry I made you go in there alone.”

He shakes his head. “They would’ve held interviews separate anyway. It wouldn’t have made a difference.”

You sigh. “Matt, I’m sorry. Come here.” He slides under the covers again, wrapping his arms around you. You let your wings circle around him, encompassing his body the way his arms are doing for you. After a minute he seems to relax.

“That’s not even everything.” He says into your shoulder.

You run your hand along his chest, waiting for him to continue.

“In my dream, everything was like a perfect memory of what happened up until I passed out. I don’t know how long it had been. They didn’t let me sleep though. Every time I did, they woke me up with smelling salts. In my dream, when I woke up, they had you sitting, tied to a chair next to me. I heard the gun in his pocket, I knew what was going to happen. I fought and fought and fought, but I couldn’t get loose and he killed you.”

You don’t know what to say until he starts shaking and you feel stray tears soaking through your shirt. “Oh Matt.” You run a hand through his hair while your wings tighten around him. “It’s okay now. You’re safe. We’re both safe.”

After a minute he pulls back and wipes his eyes as he takes some deep breaths. “I know, I’m sorry.”

“Matt, it’s okay. There’s nothing to apologize for.”

He takes a cleansing breath and you wipe the leftover tears away. The two of you sit in silence for a minute before he changes the subject. “So you saved me?” He grins.

“With the others, yeah.”

“My guardian angel.” He murmurs as he toys with a feather.

You snort. "The devil needs a guardian angel?"

"I guess so."

“Yeah, well they almost made me stay back with Nick.”

“I don’t believe for a second that they could’ve forced you to stay back.”

“I wanted to help you and I knew the only way was to do it together. I kind of lashed out at them when they were trying to make a decision about how to get you.”

He lets out a soft chuckle before sobering up. “Is everything okay between you guys now?”

“Yeah. But what’s so funny?”

He smiles and shrugs. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen that side of you, but I can picture it. Would you hate me if I told you that a part of me feels good that me being in danger is what brought it out?”

You crack a smile. “No. It’s kind of cute.”

“Good. I’d hate for this to be over before it began.”

You take his hand and snuggle up to his chest. “Me too.”


	11. Chapter 11

After saving Matt, you and your fellow Defenders decided to regroup. You all feel terrible for letting Matt down and are determined to be ready next time. Opponents like Fisk, or Kilgrave, or the Hand, are formidable; no one questions it. But taking out this biker gang was supposed to be ametur hour. It was just a bunch of fuck boys who got out of hand. Which is still true, as far as you’re concerned. It’ll just call for a more… direct approach. You haven’t put it up to a vote, but that seems to be the general consensus.

Matt tries to act like he’s fine. He meets up with everyone like always, but you can tell he’s there in body only. He just sits and listens while everyone talks about recruiting new members. Only giving input when someone directly asks for it. If anyone else notices, they don’t call him out on it- which is most likely a good thing. Since you’ve become close as Matt and y/n, and not just as Daredevil and The Valkyrie, you can’t stand by and watch him suffer alone.

“Hey Matt?” You ask one night at his place.

He acknowledges you with a quiet hum.

“Are you okay?”

He turns his head toward you, not quite hiding his look of surprise at the question. “Yeah.” He gives you a little smile and rubs your thigh as if you’re the one who just went through hell.

“Are you sure?”

He starts shifting as he takes a deep breath and his left hand starts twitching. “Yeah, yeah I’m sure.”

“Matt, I don’t need to hear heartbeats to know you’re lying.”

“I uh- I keep having nightmares.” He offers

“I’m sorry.”

“They’re never the same. They all consist of me blowing some operation or another though. I don’t do my job right, and then someone gets hurt. Usually you. Half the time they kick me out of the group.”

“You know no one’s really going to do that though, right?”

“Why not? I mean, what if I just can’t work with a team?”

“Then you go back to being the lone vigilante. But if you do, it’ll be your choice. We all feel like we let you down. No one is going to tell you to leave.”

“You let me down? I had one job. Convince this- fucking kid for Christ’s sake- to hire me into his organization. Fuck- I’m a lawyer, it should’ve been simple.”

“You did your best. I know it’s easy to feel like it’s your fault, but you can’t let the guilt overcome you. No one blames you.”

“Yeah?" He lets out a humorless laugh. "Well you let me know when you actually know how I feel."

You let you a breath in disbelief. “I know more about this than you think. I get that you’re going through a lot right now, and I want to help you through it, but you are not going to take it out on me.”

He grabs your hand before you have the chance to storm out. “Please, I’m sorry. I just-” He tries to grab at the words he wants, but he can’t.

“It’s okay Matt.” You pull him into your arms and hold him close. “Do you want to know?”

He hugs you tighter. “Yes.”

You run a hand through his hair. “I’ve been so scared to tell you, you’ll think I’m so weak, or you’ll hate me, or-”

He pulls back, brows set into a hard line. “Nothing you could possibly say would make me think any of those things.” He tells you with a reverence you’ve only seen when he was arguing a point with the other Defenders.

“We’ll see. In any case, you have the right to know since you’ve put so much trust in me.” His face softens, and you allow yourself a moment to take it in in all it’s beauty, before he likely kicks you out of his life forever. “I worked for Fisk.”

“What?” His grip on your waist loosens as he slowly withdraws, his face falling.

And it’s worse than you could’ve imagined, because it’s not anger, like you were expecting to see written on his face. Anger you could’ve defended yourself against, told him he had no right to judge. That he doesn’t know what Fisk threatened. But you feel none of that because he just looks hurt. The uptick of his eyebrows, the squint of his eyes, and the little frown that settles on his face just makes you want to grovel to his feet and beg forgiveness. Like it’s his to give in the first place.

But you won’t let yourself, because you made a decision. You made a decision; and as much as it haunts you every day- the screams and bloody corpses that replay in your mind and dig roots down into your gut- you still know that it was the right choice.

Matt has to double check that he heard you right. But he did, and there’s no mistaking it. You worked for Fisk. He doesn’t yell or throw you out. He won’t. He knows there’s more to the story. The woman he loves- does he love you? Apparently he doesn’t know a damn thing about you. He thinks over your time together. Yes he does. He knows you, and he knows you wouldn’t do this for just any reason. You told him you had skeletons in your closet, and he told you he trusted you. And he does. He listens to your heart, mapping out the fear in your chest. Getting upset isn’t going to help anyone here, so he takes a deep breath and pulls you close, fitting you to his side. “Well don’t leave me hanging. What happened?”

His response surprises you, but you're not one to look a gift horse in the face. “He needed my skills so he had some of his men take me and offer me a position.”

“He had them take you? Why wouldn’t he just come and propose a business arrangement first?”

“I don’t know. If you try to apply logic to his actions, you’ll drive yourself crazy. Anyway, I turned them down. Anyone who’s first instinct is to abduct you isn’t someone you want to get involved with. At first, I thought they let me go. I lived in fear for about a week because they didn’t seem like the type to take no for an answer. Turns out, I was right. They showed up and took me again, this time torturing me. I don’t know how long it went on, I lost track of time, but it was quite a while.”

“Didn’t anyone notice you were missing?”

“Nick is the only one who did, but they had my phone, so when he texted me, they told him I went on a last minute vacation.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Once they released me, I went along with the story because they threatened to hurt Nick if I didn’t cooperate. You have to understand. I didn’t want to do it. I withstood what was probably weeks of torture because I didn't want to get involved with them. But I couldn’t let Nick get hurt or killed because of me.”

He pulls you closer and shushes you gently. “It’s okay. He’s in prison now, and he’s not getting out any time soon. You did what you had to.”

“But Matt, the things I helped him do- all those people he hurt- I enabled him. I don’t know how I’ve lived with myself. I don’t know how to keep living with myself.”

He feels tears soaking through his shirt and pulls back just enough to take your head in his hands and wipe them away. “Hey, look at me.” He strokes your cheek with his thumb. “It’s not your fault. No one can blame you for protecting people you love. If you refused to help him even after that, he would’ve killed him and you, then found someone else. None of what he did was your fault.”

He would’ve found someone else with wings?” You pull back and look at him skeptically, knowing he’ll sense your tone.

“There are other mutants with wings. Then there’s tech like the Falcon uses.”

You nod, staring off into space before you snap out of it. “Why aren’t you mad? You should be yelling at me to get out of your house and-”

“Hey, I’m not going to throw you out or yell. I’ve been there. I’ve gone out with the intent to kill. You did what you thought was best at the time. That’s all any of us can do.”

“But, all those people.”

He pulls you close again. “All those people would’ve gotten hurt anyway. You know better than anyone how determined Fisk was with his vision. He would’ve found a way whether you helped him or not. If Fisk threatened the people I care about, I can’t say that I wouldn’t have done the same thing.”

You take a deep breath and run your hand through your hair. “I’m sorry, I was supposed to be comforting you.”

He cracks a smile. “Well it worked. I’m not dwelling on what happened to me anymore. I know I’m not alone, I can let you help me. We can be here for eachother.” He cups your face and runs a hand along your cheek, coming to rest under your chin has he murmurs your name.

“What is it Matt?” You gaze into his amber eyes, looking like they were cured from between the bark of the tree if life itself. They’re already adorned with a couple smile lines, but it only makes him all the more beautiful.

“Since that first date, when you let me feel your wings and face, I’ve been waiting to tell you how much I care about you. I figured I shouldn’t drag you along anymore than I already was incase I couldn’t live with your secret. But I can. I should've known I could; because I know you. I know that anything you've done that you regret wasn't malicious in intent. You know right from wrong and you would never do anything without good reason.” He squeezes you and gives you a peck on the forehead. “Y/n, I love you.”

You get in his lap and pull him in for a kiss. "I love you too Matt.

He grins when he hears the words leave your lips, and pulls you in for another kiss. You sit like that for a while, just enjoying the feel of each other, and sharing air, until he picks you up.

"Matt! What are you doing?" You laugh.

"Well, I was going to take you to the bedroom." He smirks against your cheek as he continues peppering kisses along your face and neck.

"Well I'm not protesting."

"I can't tell you how happy that makes me." He connects your lips again as he carries you to his room.


End file.
